Kansas hoping for repeat of history

OMAHA, NE - MARCH 25: Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks walks off the court after his team defeated the Duke Blue Devils in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Duke Blue Devils 85-81. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Photo: Jamie Squire, Staff / Getty Images

Photographers captured the moment: Bill Self shouting to the rafters and raising clinched fists to the crowd, celebrating the Jayhawks’ overtime victory over Duke in the Midwest Regional finale.

Kansas’ coach is not normally given to such emotion, but this time there was good reason.

Not only did the Jayhawks exorcise a few demons — they lost in the Elite Eight in each of the past two seasons — but the win Sunday meant they had secured a return trip to the Final Four and the Alamodome, sight of one of the school’s greatest triumphs.

In 2008, the Jayhawks beat Memphis in overtime at the dome to win Self’s only national championship.

Ten years later, they’re back for a shot at another title. Kansas meets Villanova in Saturday’s second national semifinal.

Skinny: Is pressure off now after Jayhawks overcame Elite Eight hurdle?

How they can win it all: By staying hot from the outside. Defense will be important against Villanova, which leads the nation in scoring (86.6 ppg), but Jayhawks (81.4 ppg) will have to score, too. Matching Villanova beyond the arc will be key. Mykhailiuk (114) and Graham (106) both have more than 100 made 3s this season, while Newman has been on a sizzling pace in March.

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“There’s a lot of fond memories, without question,” Self recalled of that first trip to the dome, citing Mario Chalmers’ 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, which Kansas won 75-68. “Certainly walking off the court with my son with the net around his back (was another). It’s a pretty special feeling.

“I hope this team will experience a lot of the same things that team went through.”

From demons to destiny. Notoriously passionate Jayhawks fans are hoping history repeats itself this weekend.

The Kansas-Villanova winner in a battle of No. 1 seeds meets the winner of No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago vs. No. 3 Michigan on Monday night for the national championship.

The Jayhawks (31-7) enter Saturday’s contest riding a seven-game win streak that includes victories over Penn, Seton Hall, Clemson and Duke in the NCAA Tournament.

The 85-81 overtime win over Duke was especially noteworthy. The dramatic battle of traditional bluebloods gave the Jayhawks their first Final Four berth since 2012, when the Jayhawks lost in the title game to Kentucky.

Kansas, which lost to Villanova, who went on to win the title in 2016, and Oregon in the Elite Eight the past two seasons, survived when a last second shot in regulation by Duke star Grayson Allen that could have won the game rimmed in and out.

“It’s just a great feeling for us, for the fans, just everything that we’ve been through this year, the ups and downs,” All-American senior guard Devonte’ Graham said after a game that saw 18 lead changes. “Everything that we’ve been through, we did it for moments like this. It’s just special.”

The Jayhawks weren’t favored to win the Big 12 title this season after having won 13 straight.

Things got off to a rocky start the first week when Kansas learned heralded recruit Billy Preston would not play for the Jayhawks, deciding instead to head to Europe to turn pro.

During the regular season, Kansas lost three games at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time in 19 years, prompting Self to call his team “soft.”

But the Jayhawks steadily improved, won both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and the Midwest Regional to advance to the third Final Four in Self’s 15 seasons at the school.

Kansas has played particularly well in March, thanks in large part to the work of guard Malik Newman, a sophomore transfer from Mississippi State.

Highly recruited out of Jackson, Mississippi, Newman struggled most of the Big 12 season, scoring in single digits seven times. But he’s delivered in March, averaging nearly 23 points a game since the conference tournament began.

He exploded for 32 against Duke.

“He’s always been a good offensive player,” Self said. “But I was on his butt pretty hard for not doing some other things. He wasn’t taking pressure off Devonte’. I just felt like he was forcing Devonte’ to do too much.

“Here of late, Devonte’ has got a sidekick. Or you could even say Malik has a sidekick in Devonte’ because he’s been out best player without question the last month.”

Saturday, Kansas has another matchup against a goliath in Villanova in a battle of teams that rely on the 3-pointer. Villanova, No. 1 in the nation in scoring (86.6 ppg) has 436 made 3s this season — seven shy of the single-season Division I record.

Kansas has made 384.

“They’re as explosive of an offensive team as we’ve played all year in terms of the ability to use their big men,” said Villanova coach Jay Wright, who joins Self as the only active Division I coaches with four straight 30-win seasons. “And now they’ve probably got the best perimeter team they’ve ever had.”

Self is just happy to be back in San Antonio. He had been 2-7 in regional finals prior to the win over Duke.

That demon exorcised, Self is coming back to the scene of his greatest triumph. And his son, Kyle, now works for the Spurs as a basketball operations quality assurance assistant.

As for the emotion he showed after the win over Duke, Self joked that those tears were “just a lot of water in my eyes.

Whisler has been a reporter and copy editor at the Express-News since 1995. After a year on the sports copy desk, became a reporter covering the Iguanas hockey team. First started covering boxing in 1997. Has covered numerous world title fights over the years in Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles. Other beats include the Rampage hockey team, Missions minor-league baseball and horse racing at Retama Park, as well as general assignment. Native of South Bend, Ind., graduated from Indiana University in 1977 with a degree in journalism. Moved to San Antonio in 1979.